Ballmer: WP7 could make it to third place, Windows 8 downloaded 500,000 times

Steve Ballmer just spits out numbers. He can’t seem to help himself. Earlier this year, he claimed that Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) would have 500 new features and said Windows 8 would be available in mid 2012. Yesterday, in an appearance at Microsoft’s BUILD conference he revealed that the Windows 8 developer preview, a running copy of Windows 8 that anyone can download and install, was downloaded more than 500,000 times in its first night of availability.

“There is no phone, there is nothing on the tablet, there is no operating system on the planet that will ship 350 million units of anything other than Windows,” he said, according to AllThingsD. “Our approach to these new opportunities is centered in Windows. It’s not about doing something else. It’s about broadly re-imagining Windows.”

Hopefully said developers are enjoying their time with the new OS. For more information about the Windows 8 Developer Preview, check out our wrap of the BUILD keynote by Steven Sinofsky. Have you tried out Windows 8 yet? If so, please let us know what you think of it. If not, you can download it here.

Windows Phone could be third

Continuing the numbers, during a financial analyst meeting yesterday, Ballmer also said that Windows Phone will definitely make it to “third” in the smartphone race. Yes, he’s aiming for third place.

“I won’t say I’m not saying I love where we are, but I’m very optimistic to where I think we can be,” said Ballmer via The Register. “I think with a little bit more effort, a little bit more energy, the level of enthusiasm from the customer base is high enough we’ve just got to kick this thing to the next level. And I think we’re in absolute good shape in order to be a very strong third ecosystem in the smart phone world.”